General Rebuttal to the Theory of EvolutionRich Deem

Introduction

This paper examines the scientific basis for questioning the validity of
macroevolutionary theories. For a discussion of what the Bible says about
naturalistic changes of living organisms, see the page "Naturalistic
Biological Change and the Bible."

Definitions

It is important to first define what is meant by the word
"evolution." There are actually two major theories of biological
evolution:

Macroevolution - Extrapolation of
microevolution to account for all changes in body designs, speciation,
appearance of new phyla, etc.

Therefore, I accept microevolution as a scientifically reliable theory, which
describes the intelligent design with which organisms were endowed by their
Designer. However, in contrast to the reliability of microevolutionary theory,
macroevolution is not supported by the record of nature or current scientific
research. Even evolutionists admit these major problems in the scientific
journals (although you are unlikely to find these admissions in textbooks or
popular books on evolution):

"Major transitions in evolution - such as the origin of
life, the emergence of eukaryotic cells, and the origin of the human
capacity for language, to name but a few - could not be farther from
an equilibrium. Also, they cannot be described satisfactorily by
established models of microevolution."1

Dr. Fagerstrom, et al.

There are two major models of macroevolution (In the remainder of this
article, I will refer to macroevolution simply as evolution, since this is the
common usage). They are:

Gradualism - Changes in the morphology of
species are the result of gradual changes in the genomes of species. The
apparent lack of gradualism in the fossil record is due to an incompleteness
of the fossil record.

Punctuated Equilibrium - Changes in
morphology are due to species sorting following geographic isolation and
major reductions in population numbers. The punctuated appearance of the
fossil record is real.

Refutation of Gradualism

The major problems with gradualism is that it is not reflected in the fossil
record. By far, the fossil record is extremely discontinuous. There are a few
examples of gradualism, but they are the exception. Even the most famous example
of gradualism (the horse) suffers from a lack of intermediates for most species.
Here is an admission by an evolutionist:

"Eldredge and Gould not only showed that paleontologists
had been out-of-step with biologists for decades, but also that they
had unconsciously trying to force the fossil record into the
gradualistic mode. The few supposed examples of gradual evolution were
featured in the journals and textbooks, but paleontologists had long
been mum about their 'dirty little trade secret:' most species
appear suddenly in the fossil record and show no appreciable change
for millions of years until their extinction."2

Dr. Donald Prothero

The evidence against gradualism is extensive, but not readily admitted to in
the popular press or textbooks. Although the fossil record for a given location
on land may be discontinuous, the fossil record for organisms deposited in the
ocean or large bodies of water is continuous. Studies by Stanley (3),
Cheetham (4) and Stanley and Yang (5)
examined all the available lineages of their respective groups (bryozoans and
bivalves) through long intervals of time, using multivariate analysis of
multiple character states. Both concluded that most of their species were static
through millions of years, followed by the sudden appearance of new species.
Williamson (6) examined the fossil record of mollusks in Lake
Turkana, Kenya, and showed that there were multiple examples of rapid speciation
and prolonged stasis, but no gradualism. Barnosky (7) examined
a large number of different lineages of mammals, from mammoths to shrews and
rodents that lived during the last two million years of the Ice Ages and found a
few examples of gradualism, but many more which showed stasis and punctuation.
Prothero examined all the mammals with a reasonably complete record from the
Eocene-Oligocene (about 30-35 million years ago) beds of the Big Badlands of
South Dakota and related areas in Wyoming and Nebraska (8).
This study not only sampled every available lineage without bias, but also had
much better time control from magnetic stratigraphy and wider geographic
coverage than previous studies. With only one exception all of the
Badlands mammals were static through millions of years, or speciated abruptly
(if they changed at all). Stasis and sudden appearance of new species is the
norm rather than the exception, as evidenced by the fossil record.

Evolutionists have used the excuse that the fossil record is not complete
enough to be an accurate representation of the history of life on the Earth. A
recent book, The Adequacy of the Fossil Record (9),
examined the fossil record in terms of its completeness, bias (over and
under representation of certain species and groups of organisms), and
stratigraphic range (its completeness for a species over the entire history of
its existence). Their conclusions were that the fossil record is surprisingly
complete, with about 10% of all species that have ever lived being represented.
There are some biases and stratigraphic incompleteness in the fossil record, but
these problems can be estimated mathematically from the available data. There
are many examples of stratigraphic gaps in the fossil record, with these gaps
being the rule rather than the exception. In the past, it has been assumed that
the gaps represent incompleteness of the fossil record. The authors suggest the
"heretical" view that stratigraphic data should be used to test the
phylogenetic relationships between species rather than assume that the
relationships exist and that the fossil record is incomplete.

The punctuated fossil record applies not only to individual species, but to
entire periods of time, where entire communities of species remain unchanged for
millions of years. These periods of "coordinated stasis" can be
followed by periods when "upwards of 60% of species seem to be replaced
over a period of a few hundred thousand years"(10).
During the first 16 million years of the Tertiary period, 18 orders of mammals
appeared. Many scientist had claimed that gaps in the fossil record could
account for the apparent sudden appearance of mammals. However, Dr. David
Archibald (San Diego State University), looked at the numbers of fossil site
spanning the period of 5 million years before and after the Cretaceous-Tertiary
boundary. Dr. Archibald found that sampling was equal for periods before and
after the boundary, although only 11 genera were found in the 5 million years
before the beginning of the Tertiary compared to 139 genera in the 5 million
years following (11). The idea that the lack of transitional
forms is due to gaps in the fossil record is not reasonable given the tremendous
number of fossils that have been discovered in recent studies. Therefore, the
old "evolution of the gaps" theory is not supported by the extensive
fossil record that now exists. Gradualism, although it seems a more logical mode
of evolution, is not supported by the fossil record.

There are many who believe in the theory of evolution, who don't realize that
you need to make a choice in what theory of evolution you are going to accept as
being true. You can't believe in both gradualism and punctuated equilibrium
simultaneously, since they are contradictory. Some of the "spokesmen"
for evolution, such as Richard Dawkins, would like to redefine punctuated
equilibrium into some sort of modified gradualism. However, the following
statement is what Gould and Eldredge say about their theory:

"Punctuated equilibrium is a theory that attributes this
pattern of spurt and stasis neither 1. to imperfections of the fossil
record in a truly gradualistic world, nor 2. to such theories of
occasional anagenetic rapidity as Simpson's important hypothesis of
quantum evolution, but to speciation as a process of branching,
characteristically occurring at geologically instantaneous rates -
with trends then explained not as anagenetic accumulation, but as
differential success by species sorting."12

Drs. Gould and Eldredge

The punctuated reality of the fossil record is best exemplified by the
"Cambrian explosion." Virtually every animal phyla (including
chordates and many phyla now extinct) appeared during the short geological
moment called the Cambrian explosion (13). This period of time
is now known to have covered a period of time of less than 10 million years (14,
15). The diversity of life and the variety of body designs has
led Stephen Jay Gould to make the following statement:

"We have reason to think that all major anatomical designs
may have made their appearance at that time."16

Dr. Stephen Jay Gould

Many evolutionists are now admitting that the diversity of life appearing at
the Cambrian explosion is beyond what one would expect from any naturalistic
mechanism:

"Understanding both the onset and the termination of such
bursts is a major challenge. Critical tests for the trigger or damperof the Cambrian explosion have been difficult."17

David Jablonski

In a huge setback for evolutionists, scientists have discovered a true
crustacean in early Cambrian strata from Shropshire, England. In a recent issue
of Science, Drs. Siveter, Williams, and Waloszek. announced the discovery
of a fossil phosphatocopid ostracod, which is preserved extraordinarily well,
including all its delicate limbs cast in calcium phosphate, clearly allowing it
to be classified as a crustacean. Dr. Richard Fortey, who believes that this
discovery will foreshadow the discovery of pre-Cambrian ancestors of this
crustacean, overturning the Cambrian explosion, has made this rather telling admission at the end of the
article:

"Even if evidence for an earlier origin is discovered, it
remains a challenge to explain why so many animals should have
increased in size and acquired shells within so short a time at the
base of the Cambrian. At the moment, there are almost as many
explanations as there are animals caught in this belated
"explosion."18

Dr. Richard Fortey

Other recent studies contradict the major mechanism behind gradualism, since
they "show how important large beneficial Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations are in the first stages
of an adaptation," according to evolutionary biologist Doug Schemske of the
University of Washington, Seattle (19). According to
evolutionary theory, a new adaptation must be acquired fairly quickly, or else
organisms will be poorly adapted to both the new and the old conditions and will
not survive. Therefore, it seems logical that the first genetic changes must
have large effects or else the changes will not be selected. However, the
observation that large beneficial Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations seem to occur (of course de novo
creation is eliminated as a possibility) poses a problem, since these Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutationsare thought to be mostly rare and mostly disadvantageous when they do happen so
"they contradict theory," according to Dr. H. Allen Orr, an
evolutionary geneticist at University of Rochester in New York (19).
"We're in a funny situation - we're about to have a wave of data crash down
on us and no theory to hang it on." New models have been proposed to
attempt to explain these data, although they are yet to be confirmed.

Refutation of Punctuated Equilibrium

Punctuated equilibrium requires the occurrence of two unlikely events. First,
a number of beneficial Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations must accumulate in a small number of
individuals. Since the A permanent structural alteration in DNA, consisting of either a substitution, insertion or deletion of nucleotide bases.mutation rate is low, the species' population must be
large in order to accumulate any beneficial Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations (most Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutationsare neutral and the remainder are mostly detrimental). Next, these few
individuals must become genetically isolated from the larger population (species
sorting). Without genetic isolation (usually involving geographic isolation) the
multiple Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations, needed to produce the punctuated appearance of a new
species, would never get co-expressed. Therefore, punctuated equilibrium
requires the unlikely events of multiple Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations in presence of a few
individuals of large population, and the unlikely genetic isolation of these
specific individuals from the vast majority of the main population. Although it
is possible that such unlikely events could occur by chance occasionally,
punctuated equilibrium requires that these unlikely events occur all the time,
as revealed in the fossil record. Punctuated equilibrium truly is a faith in the
miracles of chance.

A recent study destroys the idea of species sorting (20, 21).
Instead of becoming a new species, populations that suffer drastic reductions in
numbers are characterized by decreased genetic variability and an expression of
detrimental genes. This happens because normally Possessing two different forms of a particular gene, one inherited from each parent.heterozygous (containing 2
different Variant forms of a gene at a particular locus, or location, on a chromosome.alleles of each gene) individuals become Possessing two identical forms of a particular gene, one inherited from each parent.homozygous, due to
inbreeding. As a result, detrimental, non-expressed, A genetic disorder that appears only in patients who have received two copies of a mutant gene, one from each parent.recessive genes become
Possessing two identical forms of a particular gene, one inherited from each parent.homozygous and, therefore, are expressed, resulting in a less fit population.
The study examined the effect of a 35-year population decline of greater prairie
chickens on their fitness and fertility. The results showed that population
decline and isolation of the prairie chicken led to decreased genetic
variability, reduced egg viability (from near 100% to less than 80%), and a
decline of fertility rates (from 93% to 74%). Only after human intervention
(which brought in genetically diverse individuals from other areas) did the
population begin to recover. This study calls into serious question species
sorting as the underlying mechanism of punctuated equilibrium. More recent
studies have confirmed these results (22, 23).

Another study showed that low relatedness (high genetic diversity) is favored
in social insects (24). This low relatedness improves the
fitness of the colony, but prevents the kind of species sorting expected in
punctuated equilibrium.

The Failures of Darwinism

Molecular Biology

Although molecular biology has been used to hasten research in many fields of
biology, it has failed to confirm the evolutionary mechanisms proposed by
Darwinian theory:

"Attempt to detect adaptive evolution at the molecular
level have met with little success."25

Dr. Paul Sharp

"The results of molecular genetics have
frequently been difficult to explain by conventional evolutionary
theory"26

Dr. J.A. Shapiro

"Every step in evolution, from a darkening of a moth's
pigment to the development of the opposable thumb, is caused by a
change in molecules. But biologists have rarely traced adaptive
changes to their molecular roots in genes and Organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.proteins."27

Dr. Elizabeth Pennisi

Several studies within the field of molecular biology have found major
problems in the molecular clock hypothesis. This theory states that the rate of
drift for a An organic compound made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.proteinThe order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence depends on the number of A group of 20 different kinds of small molecules that link together in long chains to form proteins. Often referred to as the "building blocks" of proteins.amino acid residues that
are critical for its function. Evolutionary theories state that non-critical
A group of 20 different kinds of small molecules that link together in long chains to form proteins. Often referred to as the "building blocks" of proteins.amino acid residues should be substituted on a random basis through the eons of
time. For example, the The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence divergence between humans and yeasts in histones
(Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA-associated Organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.proteins) is only 3%, although Relating to a permanent structural alteration in DNA, consisting of either a substitution, insertion or deletion of nucleotide bases.mutational studies have
demonstrated that approximately 30% of the The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence is non-critical to the
function of the An organic compound made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.protein. If the molecular clock hypothesis were true, one would
expect at least a 15-20% divergence between yeast and human histone The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences,
given the length of time separating the last common ancestors of these unrelated
species. (28)

With the recent advances in the field of molecular biology, DNA sequencing
has become automated, and computer programs have been developed to analyze the
large amount of data accumulated using such techniques. As a result, it has
become commonplace to perform phylogenetic analyses of numerous species using a
statistical method called likelihood ratio tests (LRTs). The use of LRTs has
produced the following results in molecular evolutionary theory:

Testing Theories of Molecular Evolution Using LTRs

Evolutionary Theory Prediction

Result

Constant Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rate among
lineages (molecular clock)

LRTs indicate that the molecular clock
hypothesis should be rejected most often, since Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates vary
widely among difference lineages of organisms (30).

A standard Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution model
explains evolutionary data

The current models of Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution fit the observed data poorly (31).

The Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rate is equal among
Structural components, or building blocks, of DNA and RNA. Nucleotides consists of a base plus a molecule of sugar and one of phosphate.nucleotides

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates are constant
among sites within a genetic The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates vary widely
among sites within a The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence (33).

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates are constant
among genomic regions

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates vary widely
among genomic regions (34).

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution process is identical
among lineages

Methods of Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution varied
significantly among four of the major lineages that reportedly gave rise
to present-day life forms (35).

The Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution process in the stem
regions of Relating to ribosomes, complexes of RNA and protein that function in the translation of RNA into protein.ribosomalDeoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA is independent among sites

In fact, there is a correlation of
Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution at pair-bonded stem sites in Relating to ribosomes, complexes of RNA and protein that function in the translation of RNA into protein.ribosomalDeoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAThe order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences (36).

The Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution process is
identical among genomic regions.

Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNAReplacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution rates vary widely
among genomic regions of transfer Ribonucleic acid: a chemical that directs the manufacture of proteins and sometimes codes for the genetic material within certain organisms.RNA from mitochondria (37).

Phylogenies for hosts and parasites are
consistent with a common evolutionary history

For 13 sets of gophers and their
associated lice, the phylogenies were different. In a small subset, they
were consistent (37).

An analysis of the tree of life at its most basic level (kingdoms) indicates
that organisms do not share common descent (38). A few dozen
microbial genomes have been fully Determining the order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequenced and the results indicate that there
is no clear pattern of descent. Certain species of Archea ("ancient
bacteria that are best known for living in extreme environments) are more
closely related to species of eubacteria ("common" bacteria) than they
are to members of their own kingdom. In fact, many microbial species share genes
found in eukaryotes (non-microbial organisms characterized by the presence of a
nucleus in the cell). Many evolutionists are now suggesting that gene transfers
were so common in the past (a convenient non-provable hypothesis) that a tree of
life for microbial species can never be discerned from existing species. Such
proposals remove evolutionary theory from being tested, and remove it from
scientific criticism.

Human Descent

Modern molecular biology tells us that modern humans arose less than 100,000
years ago (confirmed by three independent techniques), and most likely, less
than 50,000 years ago (39-48). This data
ties in quite well with the fossil record. Sophisticated works of art first
appear in the fossil record about 40,000-50,000 years ago (49)
and evidence of religious expression appears only 25,000-50,000 years ago (50,
51). Such a recent origin date for modern humans precludes any
possibility of any previous hominids being our ancestors, since Homo erectus
died out 300,000 years ago, and Homo neandertalensis has been proven to
be too genetically different from us to have been our ancestor (52).
Where does this leave the evolutionists and their descent of man theory? Well,
they can always fall back on their favorite line - "the fossil record is
just incomplete." For more information read the paper, "Descent
of Man Theory: Disproved by Molecular Biology."

"No one has actually witnessed the birth of a species in the
wild, so researchers must come up with clever experiments to see whether
differences in ecology, and the adaptations they spur, can isolate
species reproductively."53

Dr. Virginia Morell

Climate and Ecology

Recent studies have shown that climate and ecology, supposedly the most
influential driving forces of evolution, have had minimal effect on speciation.
According to Richard Kerr, "But the best compilation of fossil evidence on
mammal evolution to date now shows that climate had little effect on most of the
evolutionary churning of the past 80 million years." Even the
paleontologist who did the study, Dr. John Alroy said, "This is
counterintuitive; I wanted to find a connection" (54).
Paleontology tells us that there was a major change in the climate of Africa
between 2.8 and 2.5 million years ago. Evolutionists have suggested that this
change promoted early human evolution and a turnover of mammalian species at
this time. However, a thorough study of mammalian fossils (over 10,000
specimens) from the period of 3.0 to 1.8 million years ago reveals that there
was "no distinct turnover pulse between 2.8 and 2.5 Ma." Instead, the
most significant period of change in mammalian species occurred between 2.5 and
1.8 million years ago (55).

Evolutionary theory predicts that much of the speciation of North American
mammals and birds was influenced by the climatic changes and geographic
isolation produced by the ice ages of the Late Pleistocene. However, in
examining the Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA differences between songbirds, the predicted divergence rate
of 0.5% is exceeded by a factor of 10 (the actual rate is 5.1%). Two possible
evolutionary explanations exist to explain the data - either 1) the molecular
clock is improperly calibrated or 2) climate and glaciation do not effect
speciation. If the molecular clock were improperly calibrated, then for two
groups of songbirds, the Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA divergence would have to be 50%, which the
researchers describe as "highly improbable," given the likelihood of
multiple Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitutions at the same One of the structural components, or building blocks, of DNA and RNA. A nucleotide consists of a base plus a molecule of sugar and one of phosphate.nucleotide position for such a high
divergence. Therefore, it seems likely that climate and glaciation had little or
no effect upon songbird speciation (56).

Geographic isolation, which has been hypothesized to result in speciation,
has often been shown not to play a role. A recent study, using Japanese and
Canadian stickleback fish demonstrated that thousands of miles of separation
over long periods of time did not result in changes large enough to produce
speciation. It was found that Canadian freshwater females accepted Japanese
freshwater mates, and vice versa and that these crosses produced viable hybrids.

"We're trying to find what causes [speciation], and
we're finding that geographic isolation by itself doesn't always provide
the best answer. Something else is driving it--and we think that
'something else' is often the ecology."52

Dr. Patton

Although many evolutionists think ecology may drive speciation,
the results from the studies cited above show that ecology often contradicts
this viewpoint.

"At their best, Schlichting and Pigliucci's discussions force
biologists to face a fact whose magnitude has been obscured by a good
deal of wishful thinking: Our understanding of Related to the observable traits or characteristics of an organism, for example hair color, weight, or the presence or absence of a disease.phenotypic evolution
remains appallingly weak."57

Dr. Allen Orr (Department of Biology, University of Rochester)

Conclusion

As can be seen above, the logical predictions of evolutionary theories do not
match the actual data. Either 1) evolution is a very random process that does
not follow the usual rules of biology and chemistry or 2) life was not created
through evolutionary mechanisms.

Reasons
To Believe's third in a series of books proposing a testable creation model
takes on the origin and design of the universe. Previous books,
Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off
and Who
Was Adam?: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man, examined the
origin of life on earth and the origin of mankind, respectively. Creation As Science develops a biblical creation model and compares
the predictions of this model compared to a naturalistic model, young earth
creationism, and theistic evolution. This biblical creation model is divided
into four main areas, the origin of the universe, the origin of the Solar
System, the history of life on earth, and the origin and history of mankind.

Darwin's Black Box author Michael Behe takes on the limits of
evolution through an examination of specific genetic examples. Behe finds that
mutation and natural selection is capable of generating trivial examples of
evolutionary change. Although he concludes that descent with modification has
occurred throughout biological history, the molecular devices found
throughout nature cannot be accounted for through natural selection and
mutation. Behe's book claims to develop a framework for testing intelligent
design by defining the principles by which Darwinian evolution can be
distinguished from design.

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L. Vigilant, M. Stoneking, A.C. Harpending, K. Hawkes,
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R.L. Dorit, H. Akashi, W. Gilbert. 1995. Absence of
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Hammer, M.F. 1995. A recent common ancestry for human Y
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Whitfield, L.S., J.E. Suston, and P.N. Goodfellow. 1995.
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Tishkoff, S.A., E. Dietzsch, W. Speed, A.J. Pakstis, J.R.
Kidd, K. Cheung, B. Bonn�-Tamir, A.S. Santachiara-Benerecetti, P. Moral, M.
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